Pawsteps of the Tribes
by Flame Within Ice
Summary: In Warriors: Field Guide to the Clans, Rock says that there were once three Tribes that split apart and scattered long ago. This tells the beginning story of the three Tribes: Rushing Water, Rolling Hills, and Dark Tunnels.
1. Prologue

Pawsteps of the Tribes

Introduction

Rock yowled to make his voice heard amongst the angry, arguing, fighting cats.

"QUIIIEEETTT!!!" he yowled, ears flattened to his head. All the cats stopped and turned to look at him.

"This is not the way we should do things! How can we all join together into one giant tribe? The Tribe of Endless Hunting does not want this! We should split, into three different Tribes, each marking out a territory. We should also lay down a code that all of us follow, so that we don't kill each other. We have to do this, otherwise we will be so busy fighting and arguing and spilling innocent blood that we will not notice our kits carried off by eagles or killed by wolves!" Rock threatened, and all the cats began whispering quietly about how they should do things. A bold young cat named Sunshine that Dapples the Mountain, or Sundapple, spoke up bravely,

"We should choose Healers to lead the Tribes. If I can find cats like me, will the Tribe of Endless Hunting allow me to lead a Tribe?" Sundapple meowed anxiously. Rock considered this, and looked pointedly around at the other cats, but no one protested this idea.

"Very well, then, you may find cats that share qualities of you and create a Tribe and choose your territory. What qualities must your Tribe have, Sundapple?" Rock asked. Sundapple looked around at the gathered cats and finally spoke.

"Those who wish to join my Tribe must not be afraid of passing through the Waterfall to the Wide Cavern beyond it, and they must be able to hunt in the mountains and be more nimble of foot. My Tribe shall be the Tribe of Rushing Water," Sundapple mrowled. Several cats made their way over to him, of all ages, all skills. Some were better at hunting, others at fighting off large predators, and some were still deciding what they wanted to be. Sundapple decided that he would call them "to-be's" because they were training to be something.

"Very well, Sundapple, you have your Tribe, take them and set down your territory. There is plenty of room in the mountains and around the lake for us to settle, so you may have as much mountainland as you wish," Rock proclaimed. Sundapple nodded, and stepped aside with his Tribe.

A pretty brown she-cat stepped up and said,

"My name is Wind that Cries In the Hills, and I want to be a Healer of a Tribe. My Tribe must be fast and lean and swift of paw, for I will take the moorlands near the Endless Pool," the cat finished. Again, no cat protested Wind's statement, and enough cats to make a Tribe went and stood by her. Some were extremely fast, but were neither good hunters nor good warriors. Wind decided that they would be messengers, for if the Tribes were spread far and wide across the lakeland, they would need messengers to remain in contact with each other.

"My Tribe will be the Tribe of Rolling Hills," Wind announced after some conference with her cats. Rock nodded at this, then turned to the remaining cats.

"My name is Rock that Sees All and Says Nothing, and I shall lead a Tribe. You must be good swimmers, good fisher-cats, and you must be unafraid of the Dark Tunnels," Rock almost whispered to the remaining cats. Those remaining cats shifted uneasily, but all went over to Rock's Tribe, for they had no qualities of the Tribe of Rushing Water or the Tribe of Rolling Hills. Those cats became the brave and hardy cats of the Tribe of Dark Tunnels.

_...They were divided into four Clans, unlike our three Tribes that split apart so long ago...  
__~Rock, Warriors: Field Guide to the Clans~_


	2. Chapter One

**Welcome to the first chapter of Pawsteps of the Tribes. Each chapter will alternate between the three tripes' (no, wait, _tribes'_) point of view.**

**Tribe of Rushing Water POV (now officially TRW POV, okay?)**

Chapter One

Sundapple stretched and padded out into the sunshine. His golden fur was dripping with water from the Waterfall, but he was getting used to that. So was the rest of his Tribe. Just thinking the word gave Sundapple a thrill of excitement. He was the Healer/leader of an organized group of cats called the Tribe of Rushing Water. Their territory covered all of the mountains from which the lake could be seen clearly. Being this high up didn't give the Tribe of Rushing Water any benefits over the others, for they had hid their camps equally well. Try as he might, Sundapple could not see a single sign of the Tribe of Rolling Hill's camp, even though their territory was wide and open.

Sundapple gave a tremendous yawn and looked around. Now that he had a whole territory, it was time to do a bit of exploring, and he needed to catch prey for the Tribe. Some prey had been caught the day before while there was still time before everyone went to sleep, but it was all gone now. Padding over the rocks, Sundapple searched for a good place to hunt.

Scenting the air, Sundapple picked up the faint traces of mouse. Creeping forward, Sundapple found the creature sitting up and sniffing all around it, tiny nose twitching as it poked through some low-growing bush. Awkwardly, Sundapple settled into what they had taken to calling hunting position, if you were catching small prey such as mice. For birds there was a different position.

Sundapple was a tail-length from the mouse. Wiggling his rear slightly, he shifted his weight subtly so that it was evenly distributed through all four paws. Hunting in this area was hard, for there were loose stones and some rocks were less solid than they looked. Sundapple lifted off the rocky ground suddenly, using all four paws to lift his body into the air, seeming light as a feather. He had also gently pushed himself forward as he sprung, so that he curved delicately over, landing on the mouse. Sundapple batted it into the air, so that it fell neatly on the ground, stunned, where Sundapple killed it with a swift bite to the neck.

Sundapple pushed the mouse behind the bush and kicked some loose stones over it so that it was hidden from view. Going on over the mountain, he came to a large, open area, where the hawks were wheeling. Hiding behind a large boulder, Sundapple waited in his bird crouch, which was lying in a coiled sitting posture, leg muscles taut and ready to spring. One hawk dove, and just as it was fixing to swoop out of its dive, it came too near Sundapple, who shot off the ground in a sudden explosion. The hawk squawked with surprise, and in a great tumble of feathers and fur, they landed on the other side of the boulder, but this time there was no need to deliver a killing bite. The hawk's neck was twisted at an odd angle, and its eyes were glazed over. Sundapple picked it up and walked back to where the mouse was hidden. He uncovered the mouse, tucked it under his chin, and set off for camp. It was hard, for he had to look down when he walked, and still not lose a grip on either of his prey. Finally, the roaring of the Waterfall grew near, and Sundapple flung himself through with such gusto that barely any water landed on the prey.

Several cats opened their eyes and sniffed the air. Eagerly they headed straight for Sundapple. Dropping the prey, Sundapple nervously stepped over it.

"STOP!" he yowled. The cats hesitated, and their paws kneaded the ground anxiously, but they stopped. Looking over the cats, Sundapple spotted a few cats that were extremely old, and one that was heavy with kits.

"I'm going to give the prey to the old and the queens first," Sundapple explained. A few grumbles arose from the gathered cats, but they parted to let the old cats and the queen through. Sundapple nudged the hawk toward the old cats, and the mouse towards the queen.

"It's alright to eat it. If you're still hungry afterwards, you can see if there's any meat left on the hawk, okay?" he asked the queen. The queen, who had already picked up the mouse, nodded and padded over to where she had been sleeping. She took a bite out of it, and after some thought, walked over to another cat and offered them a bite. The cat accepted, and they passed the mouse back and forth until all the meat was gone. Then they carried the mouse bones outside to the edge of the mountain, said a little prayer of thanks for its life and the meal it gave, and tossed the bones over the cliff.

The two came back inside and sniffed around. The old cats had left a little meat on the hawk, and they offered it to some other cats. Sundapple watched this carefully. Sharing food was a new concept for the Tribes, for in the old days, everyone had guarded their prey viciously, and no one even offered a bite to anyone else before they finished. They still said a prayer to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, though, even then.  
And now, suddenly, the Tribe of Rushing Water was one giant family, and new ideas were being introduced. Sundapple marveled at this, and proclaimed to his Tribe that from now on, the proper custom for eating food was to take one bite, then pass it to another, who also took a bite, then passed it back to the original eater. He announced that kits, queens, and old cats were to be fed first, and everyone else second.

The next step was organizing a hunting party. Only a couple cats had gotten food, and they needed a lot more if they were to live. Sundapple sent them out to different areas of territory, to hunt, set a marker for the farthest boundaries, and check for any threats, such as wolves, bears, badgers, foxes, and others. As Sundapple watched the hunting parties head off, his heart swelled with pride. The Tribe was coming along nicely, and he didn't really see any reason why they should have any problems.

**This book will be one that might have a sequel, if enough people like it, but for now, Pawsteps of the Tribes is about how the three Tribes began, their different customs, and also the struggles of their beginning years. Stick with them, and it will get more interesting, I promise! Don't forget to Review!**


	3. Chapter Two

**Sorry that it took a loooong time, my muse was bleh.**

Chapter Two: Tribe of Rolling Hills POV (Now TRH POV)

Wind stepped out of her den between two boulders and breathed deeply. The sun was shining, and it was a good day for hunting. Wind took a young cat named Cloud that Flies Fast with her, and the two set off over a hill in search of food to bring back to the Tribe.

Wind dropped into the rabbit crouch, which wasn't technically a crouch at all, merely a slinking movement that kept her close to the ground. A big buck rabbit was nibbling on a hawthorn bush a couple wolf-lengths away. Wind straightened her body and rocketed across the ground. The rabbit jumped and started to run, but the ground was wet from the last rain, and its paws slipped on the grass. Wind mowed it down in a heartbeat, slicing her claws across the rabbit's neck. The hind legs kicked once, feebly, then all was still. Wind picked up the prey in her mouth and purred around it when she saw that Cloud had managed to catch a gopher. How Cloud had done that was a mystery to Wind.

"Let's take this back to camp," Wind said just after sunhigh. They had caught a couple meadowlarks, a gopher, three mice, a blackbird, and a rabbit. Wind somehow fit the meadolarks and the gopher in her mouth, and tucked the blackbird under her chin. Cloud carried the rabbit in his mouth and the mice dangled by their tails from his chin.

"Food," meowed Fire that Sweeps the Prairie, a handsome ginger tom, as Wind and Cloud returned to their camp and deposited their prey in a cool rock cave by a stream. The cave was covered with salt, and the cold stream flowing nearby kept the meat from becoming crowfood longer. Wind distributed the prey out to the Tribe, and they all ate hungrily. The bones were dumped into the stream, and a prayer said as they were carried down the stream:

_"Thank you ancestors for this meal,  
__Thank you prey for giving us your life,  
May the Tribe of Endless Hunting watch after you,  
And may you run forever in Eternity."_

The Tribe of Rolling Hills cats were unique. They knew advanced ways of preserving food with salt and coolness, and they knew about music. Even now Wind was thinking of a new song as a way to teach to-be's how to hunt.

_"'Round about the woods and moor,  
Rabbits and rabbits and rabbits galore,  
Make your body like the slinking snake,  
And the rabbits' lives are easy to take."_

Wind looked out at the camp. The Tribe was dozing in the afternoon sun, and a couple sentries were alert for wolves or other predators. Wind dozed off to, and she relaxed for the first time, because they were no longer rogues. They were a Tribe.


End file.
